POV: Commander V. Spears
The Commander watched the video feed coming in through the armor cameras of Fireteam Epsilon, a neutral expression on her face. She tried to keep that look on her face whenever she was in the Command Center; it helped with morale. Inside, however, she couldn't help but grimace.
Sympathy for the Aliens wasn't something she'd really felt before. Ever since she'd been brought on to lead the XCOM Project in 2015, she'd seen the horrors that the Aliens had inflicted upon her planet. Brutal attacks against civilians, experiments performed on Prisoners, and deployment of nasty bioweapons in cities. And that was before they had taken over the world and she was used to run combat simulations against her own troops.
And yet, here she was. Feeling pity for the wheezing, terrified Viper.
After an autopsy after they had started being deployed en-masse by ADVENT, she'd learned that the Vipers were related to the Thin-Men she'd commanded troops against in the initial invasion. Intense genetic modification wasn't unprecedented for this particular species under the Elders' service. Yet what Vahlen's log had said stuck with her: 'The only male of the species ever encountered'.
The subject was certainly Male. Unlike the other Viper, this one lacked the large venom sacks that identified the common Vipers, as well as other features such as size and the presence of Spikes along its hood. It wore modified armor, better fitting to the differentiated physique. And yet, despite those obvious features, it looked… different. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Interesting", Tygan said next to her, drawing her out of her reverie. "I believe that Dr. Vahlen might be right; in the entire known history of their deployment, there are no records of a Male Viper."
"Right", Corporal Tifour said. "But what do we do with it?"
Sergeant Naumov kneeled down over the Viper, shifting it so he could better examine the wound. "Sergeant Kincade wounded it pretty bad. Decent amount of blood loss, some of the pellets have no exit wounds… If I give it some aid, we can probably stabilize it."
"Yeah, but why would we want to?", Williamson asked. "So it's different; a Viper is a Viper."
"Do it, Sergeant", the Commander cut in. All eyes in the command center fell on her, while the assembled fireteam all focused in on their comms. "Patch it up and bring it back to the Avenger."
"Are you sure about this, Commander?", Bradford asked.
The Commander let out a harsh cough, before nodding slightly to herself. "Yeah, Bradford. Even if it doesn't know where Vahlen is, it's still potentially valuable."
"Got it", Bradford said, turning back to the others. "Naumov, patch it up as best you can. Tifour, Williamson, help me carry it back to the Skyranger. Kincade, you're on point."
As the Fireteam carried out Bradford's orders, the Commander leaned back in her wheelchair, watching the almost mechanical efficiency at which they completed their orders. She'd only known most of them for the few weeks since she'd been rescued from ADVENT, but they were as good as any of the men she'd served with in the initial invasion.
"Send word down to Lily", she said, moving the joystick to turn her wheelchair around. "Tell her to stop work on that Training Room. We'll use that to hold the Viper." The bridge officer seemed to stare at her for a few seconds, as if wondering what his commander had gotten into her head, before saluting and carrying out her order. She sighed, moving the joystick forward to head towards her quarters. "Tygan, you have the Bridge."
"Yes, Ma'am", he said, disappearing from sight as the bridge door slammed shut.
Her room on board the Avenger was opposite the Command Center, near the main engine of the ship. It was apparently originally a storage closet before she requisitioned it at the insistence she have her own room. The noise from the engines wasn't too bad, and it wasn't like she slept a lot anyway.
The few staff she passed on the way got out of the way, standing at attention and saluting as her chair rolled past. She raised her other hand to return it, lowering it back into her lap after she was past them. She hit the passcode to enter her room, sighing once again as soon as the door slammed shut behind her.
XXXXX
POV: Central Officer J. Bradford
Bradford couldn't help but keep his rifle angled in such a way that it pointed at the wounded Viper. Even with cuffs around both wrists and his tail securing him to the gurney, he just didn't trust the alien. Williamson at least seemed to agree with his sentiment, his one good eye remaining locked on the Viper throughout the entire trip back to the Avenger.
"Relax, Central", Kincade said, barely finishing her bite of an old Ration Bar before speaking. "Naumov said with all the blood loss he suffered, guys likely to be out for a good while."
"Color me cautious, Sergeant", Bradford said.
Kifour nodded, saying, "I'm with Central on this one, Sammy. This is kinda the first time we've taken any prisoners. Some caution is warranted." Silence took root following the statement, the usual post-mission banter suppressed by the presence of the raspily breathing Viper.
Soon, Firebrand cast off the silence, calling back, "Avenger in sight. Home sweet home, Ladies and Gents!"
Entering into sight through a bank of clouds, the Avenger slowed its speed to allow for the Skyranger to land upon it. As soon as the engines upon the Skyranger cut out, some of the crew sprang forward from the entrance. Some sprang up the ramp, helping to support Williamson and carry him to the Medbay. Others, including members of another Fireteam, came aboard armed to take the Viper.
Bradford stepped through the doors of the Avenger into the interior halls well ahead of everyone else, moving quickly through the various halls up towards the command center. On the way, he almost ran into Lily Shen, the later leaning back against the wall to avoid a collision. "Woah. In a hurry, Central?"
"No, no", Bradford said, before sucking in a deep breath. "Well, sort of. Where's the Commander?"
"She's in her quarters", Lily said. "Been there since you got your orders to bring the Viper back."
"Thanks, Lily", Bradford said, before continuing his quick march towards the bridge. He wanted to have a talk with the Commander.
XXXXX
POV: Dr. R. Tygan
The temporary holding facility for the Male Viper that was brought aboard had been one of the numerous rooms aboard the Avenger that had been filled with debris when Tygan had come aboard. Now, after a few days of movement and noise, it had been cleared out. Now, it was empty, with bare walls and a sterile scent in the air from cleaning chemicals. Not ideal for an examination, but Bradford had insisted it not be in the medical wing.
Tygan arrived at the exact same time as the Viper. Carried on a stretcher and under the guard of a full Fireteam, it was exactly what Tygan had expected to see when a prisoner was brought aboard. "Doctor Tygan", the one in the lead said.
"Well, bring the subject in", Tygan said, stepping aside to allow the stretcher to be wedged through the door. Two pieces of furniture had been moved into the room; an operating table for Tygan to perform an examination, and a bed pushed against one wall for the Viper to sleep in. It was placed on the table, before being lifted up slightly to allow for the stretcher to be removed. The two soldiers carrying the stretcher left, leaving Tygan and the Fireteam guarding the prisoner alone. "Would you mind stepping back a little?"
As the Squad leader arranged his troops to watch the Viper, Tygan began his examination. First order of business: tend to the wounds. He studied the slowly hardening medi-gel that covered the array of pellet holes in its shoulder, in between the chest plate and left pauldron. "Naumov removed the pellets", Tygan muttered as he studied the wounds, noting either clean exit wounds or a slightly enlarged hole indicating something being used to extract the metal balls.
After making sure that the Viper wouldn't bleed to death, he started to examine the Viper more closely. Unlike the browns and yellows that were on the Vipers he normally performed autopsies on or saw in the Command Center during missions, this one was instead a stark white with blue stripes. Beyond simple size, he noted a few other features that seemed to be based upon the sex of the Viper. "Enlarged fangs… Spines along the hood and on the elbows… Different location and structure of the venom sacks…" It certainly was vastly different from the other Vipers.
Was Dr. Vahlen's assertion correct, and was this the only Male of its species? There were plenty of physical differences from the more common Vipers, and while not too commonly encountered by XCOM forces yet, it was nothing like the Vipers Tygan had seen while working for ADVENT. Was this the result of some genetic modification, like the Thin Men? If so, was it something Vahlen had done, or the Elders? And if that were the case, the question became for both answers, why?
With the pondering still in his mind, he heard the door open up behind him. He turned around, smiling lightly at the sight of Bradford and the Commander entering the room. Both of them appeared… agitated, but smothered it with a mask of professionalism. "Commander. Central", he said with the same polite reservedness.
"Dr. Tygan", the Commander said, moving her wheelchair around one side of the operating table to get a good look at the Viper.
"Any major discoveries yet?", Bradford asked, stepping next to Tygan near the tail that dangled off of the end of the table.
"Beyond the obvious, no", Tygan said, resuming his work of examining the creature. "There are a few things that I've determined to be unique elements to Male Vipers. Spines and basic anatomical differences, for the most part. I've been unable to perform an X-Ray, so I'm unable to determine internal changes."
"So it is Male?", the Commander asked.
Tygan nodded, "Yes. I was able to… confirm, that it is a male. Like Dr. Vahlen's log said, the only subject we've ever encountered. Even during my time with ADVENT, I never saw one."
"The Elders probably use cloning to replenish the number of Vipers. Like what they do with ADVENT Troopers", Bradford said.
"Indeed", Tygan agreed, heading back up the body to examine the armor that clung to the Vipers upper body. "Based on some of the modifications they've made to other species, I'd say that they simply produce Vipers via cloning. That would, in turn, make the males of the species… Redundant…" Tygan froze, looking down at the Viper with wide eyes.
Looking back up at Tygan was a pair of ice-blue eyes with slitted pupils. The Viper was awake.